If you’re using chat for sales or support, odds are you want those conversations to show up in Salesforce—without a bunch of copy-paste or missed leads. This guide is for anyone who wants to connect Drift with Salesforce and actually keep their data in sync. No sales pitches, no vague promises—just clear steps, honest gotchas, and practical tips.
Let’s get this working, and let’s keep it simple.
What You Need Before You Start
Before you dive in, make sure you’ve got:
- Admin access to both Drift and Salesforce. If you’re not an admin, get someone who is.
- A paid Drift plan that includes Salesforce integration (usually “Premium” or above).
- Salesforce API access. Most Salesforce editions have this, but some cheaper ones don’t.
- A clear idea of what you want to sync. Leads, contacts, conversations—know what matters to your team.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure what fields or objects you want to sync, talk to your sales/marketing folks before you set this up. It’ll save you hours of frustration later.
Step 1: Connect Drift to Salesforce
Let’s start with the basics: making the two systems talk.
- Log in to Drift with admin rights.
- Go to Settings > App Settings > Integrations.
- Find Salesforce and click “Connect.”
- You’ll be asked to log into Salesforce and authorize Drift. Make sure you’re using a Salesforce admin account.
- Approve the requested permissions. Drift needs access to read/write leads, contacts, and sometimes other objects. Don’t overthink it—just don’t use a personal Salesforce account.
What works: This connection is pretty standard and usually painless. If you get errors, check for pop-up blockers or expired Salesforce sessions.
What to ignore: Don’t bother with “sandbox” connections unless you’re testing something major. For most teams, connecting to production is fine.
Step 2: Map Your Fields (Don’t Skip This)
By default, Drift will try to map basic info (name, email, etc.) to Salesforce, but it’s rarely perfect out of the box.
- In Drift, go to Settings > App Settings > Integrations > Salesforce.
- Click into Field Mapping.
- For each Drift field (like “Company Name” or “Phone”), choose which Salesforce field it should sync with.
- Double-check email fields—these are the backbone for matching leads/contacts.
- If you have custom fields in Salesforce (most orgs do), add those mappings here.
Pro tip: If you don’t know what a field does, leave it unmapped for now. You can always come back.
What works: Email addresses are the glue. If you get these right, most things fall into place.
What doesn’t: Trying to map every single field from the start is a waste of time. Start with the basics and expand as needed.
Step 3: Set Up Sync Rules
Decide when and how Drift should create or update records in Salesforce. This is where things get real.
- Create new Lead/Contact: Choose if every new Drift conversation creates a Lead, Contact, or just updates existing records.
- Update existing records: Decide if Drift should overwrite Salesforce data, or just fill in blanks.
- Deduplication: Turn on deduplication to avoid endless duplicate leads. Trust me, you want this.
How to set rules:
- Still in the Drift Salesforce settings, look for Sync Rules or “Lead/Contact Creation.”
- Choose what should trigger a sync: new conversation, email collected, qualification status, etc.
- Set preferences for updating existing records vs. creating new ones.
Pro tip: Start simple—create a Lead only when an email is captured and someone is qualified. Don’t flood Salesforce with every bot chat.
Step 4: Test the Integration
Don’t trust that it’s working—prove it.
- Start a test chat in Drift as a fake visitor (use an email you control).
- Go through the bot flow or chat with an agent. Fill in all the fields you mapped.
- Wait a few minutes.
- In Salesforce, search for your test email. Check if the Lead/Contact was created, and if all the mapped fields came through.
- Try updating the same record in Drift and see if Salesforce updates.
What works: Testing with your own email (or a “+test” Gmail alias) is fast and safe.
What doesn’t: Don’t skip this step, or you’ll end up with missing data and angry sales reps.
Step 5: Handle Edge Cases and Errors
No integration is perfect. Here’s how to avoid headaches:
- Check for sync errors: In Drift, go to the Salesforce integration settings and look for an error log. Fix anything you see here first.
- Watch for duplicates: If you see duplicate leads/contacts, tighten your deduplication rules or mapping.
- Field mismatches: If data isn’t showing up, double-check field types (text vs. picklist, etc.).
- Permissions issues: If Drift suddenly can’t sync, check if your Salesforce token expired or permissions changed.
Pro tip: Set a recurring calendar reminder to check integration health once a month. It’s boring, but it’ll save you from nasty surprises.
Step 6: Train Your Team (Really)
Even the best integration isn’t magic. If your sales or support teams don’t know what data is synced—or where to look—they’ll ignore it.
- Show them where Drift chats show up in Salesforce.
- Explain what data gets pushed and when.
- Make it clear how to report problems (“Hey, this lead didn’t sync!”).
What works: A quick screen-share beats a 10-page PDF. Keep it practical.
Step 7: Iterate and Improve
Over time, you’ll spot new needs—like syncing custom fields or handling new chat flows. Don’t try to automate everything from day one.
- Start with your core use case (e.g., qualified leads).
- Review what’s working after a month.
- Add more fields or flows as needed.
What to ignore: Fancy automation recipes Drift pushes in their marketing. Most teams only need the basics to start.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
- Trying to sync too much: Only sync what your team actually uses.
- Ignoring API limits: Salesforce has daily API call limits. If you start missing data, this might be why.
- Assuming two-way sync: Out of the box, most Drift/Salesforce setups push data one way (Drift → Salesforce), not both. Don’t expect changes in Salesforce to automatically show up in Drift.
- Custom objects/fields: If you need to sync with custom Salesforce objects, expect extra work—and sometimes, developer help.
Keep It Simple—and Keep Checking
Don’t overcomplicate things. Get the basics working: key fields, core sync rules, and a quick check-in every so often. You can always add more bells and whistles later. Start small, prove it works, and iterate. That’s how you get real value—without a month of headaches.
If you get stuck, Drift’s help docs and support aren’t bad, but nothing beats actually testing how your data flows. Keep it real, keep it simple, and you’ll be miles ahead of most folks wrestling with integrations.